The ripple effects of Ruby Tui
Early on in her autobiography Straight Up, released on the eve of the Rugby World Cup, Ruby Tui recalls the time a primary school coach told her she should dream of being a Black Fern.
‘‘What the hell?’’ was her response. ‘‘Who the heck are the frickin’ ‘Black Ferns’?’’
It was an understandable question for a young kid to have two decades ago, when netball’s Silver Ferns were the only New Zealand women’s sports team with a proper profile.
Plenty has changed since that moment when Tui was confused in Canvastown, the small Marlborough settlement that was one of many she passed through during her childhood, a harrowing period of time she recounts in detail in her bestselling book.
It’s safe to say if you’re in New Zealand this week and you haven’t heard of the Black Ferns, you must be actively avoiding them. They’ve sold out Eden Park for tonight’s Rugby World Cup final against England and are riding a wave of public support as they chase a sixth world title as underdogs.
At the heart of their popularity off the field and their performances on it is 30-year-old Tui, who only made her debut in June, after spending the best part of a decade on the world sevens circuit, winning a World Cup in 2018 and Olympic gold in Tokyo last year.
Black Ferns coach Wayne Smith had only seen her from afar when he was parachuted in to take charge of the team in late April, but just over six months on, he says Tui is one of the top 10 athletes he’s worked with during his 36 years as a coach. ‘‘And I’ve coached some great athletes, some good players’’.
‘‘She’s phenomenal,’’ Smith adds. ‘‘She made a decision that she was prepared to give up on the Commonwealth Games sevens to come and play 15s, because when she was a young girl, that’s what she wanted to do.
‘‘I didn’t know where to play her. She was a prop in sevens, but she could play flanker, she could play fullback, she could play winger – we’ve just sort of put her where we think.
‘‘She learns the game as she goes. She’s a student and she’s honest with herself and she’s honest with everyone else. She’s an incredible character and she deserves everything she gets.’’
In the immediate aftermath of the Black Ferns’ semifinal win over France at Eden Park last Saturday, all the attention was on the missed French penalty in the 80th minute and the defensive effort of the hosts as they clung to a one-point lead for quarter of an hour before that.
But earlier in the match, Tui scored a special try, running on to a kick put through by Renee Holmes down the right, making up an eightmetre gap to her marker to get to the ball first and kick it, then dotting it down with millimetres to spare before it hit the dead-ball line.
Honey Hireme-Smiler played 18 tests for the Black Ferns, mostly in the No 14 jersey Tui has made her own. She says the try against France summed up what Tui offers to the teams she plays in.
‘‘She doesn’t just do what’s needed. She actually does that and more. Her brain is just constantly ticking over – what’s my next job?
How can I impact this area of the game? But also, how can I put in an extra step?’’
At first, Tui had Stacey Fluhler for company in chasing Holmes’ kick, but the centre quickly appeared to realise only one of them had a chance of getting there and abandoned her pursuit.
‘‘Ruby never pulls out,’’ says Hireme-Smiler. ‘‘Ruby will do everything 110% and I think that’s what you learn to love about her.’’
Hireme-Smiler was a team-mate of Tui’s in the early years of the New Zealand women’s sevens programme and says she’s a special athlete, who brings energy and enthusiasm to everything she does.
‘‘She has this aura about her that makes you just kind of want to be around her, because she’s someone that you can naturally connect with and she’s just really open and welcoming.
‘‘In terms of what she brings to a team, I think she balances out the team. She doesn’t take anything too seriously, but when it is time to click on, she can really bring that level of professionalism that you probably wouldn’t expect from someone that’s so hip and bubbly all the time.’’
Tui’s relatability and sense of humour have been on full display over the past 18 months and her star has shone to the point where she was at the centre of the advertising campaign for the Rugby World Cup, inviting the world to a family reunion in Aotearoa.
Part of what makes Tui special is the fact that she walks the walk after talking the talk. Her work-rate on the field is second to none and she likes making tackles as much, if not more, than scoring tries.
She was there making big stops as the Black Ferns kept France at bay early in the semifinal and she was still there making crucial interventions as they held the French out at the end. In between there was that spectacular try, her fifth of the World Cup.
‘‘She’s been one of the best players in the world at this tournament,’’ says Sarah Hirini, a long-time teammate who has also moved between sevens and 15s. ‘‘She’s pretty great off the field, but gee, she can work hard on the field.’’
Now comes the final act of ‘‘one of the greatest tours’’ Tui has ever been on – one in her own backyard that will end one way or another tonight, against an England team that has won 30 test matches in a row.
Eighty minutes will decide who gets the glory, but for Tui a special moment will come during the national anthems – a time when she normally closes her eyes and thinks of home.
‘‘Wherever I am in the world, I picture myself back in New Zealand with my people, but even at the semi, which wasn’t totally packed, I had to open my eyes, because I was like what in the New Zealand choir is going on?
‘‘It was so cool, it was this beautiful harmony. I had to actually open my eyes and be like, ‘Whoa, that’s our country singing back’.’’
‘‘She doesn’t just do what’s needed. She actually does that and more.’’ Honey Hireme-Smiler on Ruby Tui